NAH, IT’LL NEVER WORK: A radical idea to improve schools: Do what works.
We know what schools need to do to improve learning, writes Mike Schmoker, the author of Results Now 2.0. He lists three practices proven to be effective:
• The faithful implementation of a clear, sequential, knowledge-rich curriculum.
• Daily engagement in liberal amounts of purposeful reading, discussion, and writing across the curriculum.
• The routine (though not exclusive) use of explicit, step by step instruction — where each lesson has a clear goal and the teacher frequently “checks for understanding” — and re-teaches when students struggle.
Schools that do these things get excellent results, Schmoker writes. Yet many teachers have been told in training and professional development sessions that knowledge is unimportant and explicit instruction is outmoded.